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Street Talk Newsletter

Surviving Secondary Trauma

“I want to be part of the solution.” “I want to help others.” “I want to serve my community.”

People enter the law enforcement profession for many noble reasons, but often their decision boils down to the basic idea of “I want to help others.” or “I want to make a positive impact.” or “I want to make a difference that will last.” But at what cost? The cost is something they have thought little about or have no way to measure. What is the cost to the individual and the community when we take normal men and women and train them to become helpers, servants and warriors? These individuals who run toward what most in the community desperately run to escape? But what do they experience, what do they see, and why do we expect them to not be impacted in their personal lives? Do we require too much, with too little thought of their survival?

Secondary Trauma is defined as “a side effect or result of seeing or hearing about acts of cruelty or suffering which causes permanent and often profound changes in workers” (Surviving Secondary Trauma-First Responders. Missouri Model). Some now wonder and ask out loud, “How to give back to those who give so much?” Secondary trauma may begin with a single traumatic event that initiates the cycle, or it can be the cumulative impact of traumatic events that build and build throughout our careers.

For law enforcement, taking care of ourselves is an ethical mandate. How can we expect to care for others if we do not care for ourselves? We must begin to realize the responsibility we have not only to the community, but also to ourselves. In our professional lives, we often experience satisfaction or fatigue. Fatigue is often associated with caring too much, which may result in poor coping strategies. When an individual’s internal and external resources are overwhelmed, and one’s ability to cope is lost, trauma occurs. This trauma can be compared to a computer virus. What the virus is to the computer, secondary trauma is to the brain. It is not the stress that kills people; it is the trauma. As a result of the experiences, trauma occurs, which results in loss – loss of career, family, innocence, safety, trust, choice, confidence, self-worth…hope.

Changing the way we think may be the key to our success. Changing the narrative related to how we view stress and how we respond to it may prove essential. What if we began to understand stress in a new way? A way that tells us stress is our body preparing us to handle this, to be successful. When we realize how we think and act determines our response, the result of stress may be much different. If we begin to realize chasing meaning is better than avoiding discomfort, would we react differently? Could we begin to use stress to our benefit?

Research has shown that caring for others boosts our stress resilience. And isn’t this the nature of the work we do? On a daily basis, law enforcement comes into contact with people who may need a hand up. Training officers to live in that moment, and to be mindful of what they are doing, can be helpful in understanding how our resiliency is boosted by offering support, encouragement, and kindness to others.

Healthy coping strategies are typically “active” or involve problem-solving skills as opposed to unhealthy coping strategies, which provide a way to escape or avoid the problem, conflict, or issue.

Learning healthy coping strategies such as engaging in physical exercise, seeking out opportunities for social support, spending time with others, proper sleep and eating habits, enjoying hobbies outside of work, and faith-based strategies can prove beneficial to our mental and physical health and emotional balance.

Similarly, we need to learn how to avoid the unhealthy coping strategies that law enforcement has been drawn to for years: excessive alcohol use, smoking, poor eating habits, promiscuity, social withdrawal, self-criticism, aggressive behavior, silence and refusing to acknowledge we may need professional help.

If it is predictable, it is preventable. Instead of focusing on the why, we need to focus on the how we can change the culture of support. Surviving Secondary Trauma – First Responders (Missouri Model) was created to “promote police mental health, proactive resilience building and focus on de-stigmatizing and treating Post Traumatic Stress/anxiety and depression.”

During Surviving Secondary Trauma training, we examine our lives and our satisfaction level with the activities we identify as being important to each of us. We evaluate what we view as important to us, how much effort we put into it and how much satisfaction we actually get from the activity. From this review, we can evaluate whether we actually do enjoy the activity or put effort into it and what changes should be made.

The Headington Institute, an organization inspired to build first responder resilience, has developed this vision: One day, all humanitarian workers and emergency responders will have the personal skills, social support, organizational resources and public interest needed to maintain their well-being and thrive in their work.

The Institute also developed three reflective questions:

1.What is your purpose?

2.What are your strengths?

3.What gives you joy and pleasure?

In order to be in control and not let trauma overwhelm us or rob us of our lives, we need to be willing to organize our lives. During this training class, we complete a pledge to provide balance in our lives. We identify the positive activities we can participate in and pledge to be involved.

In law enforcement, as in most helper professions, our cup can become empty if we do not purposefully focus on refilling it with positive activities. Teaching good decision-making skills builds our resiliency and leads to a fuller, more beneficial life for everyone we touch. The communities we patrol depend on first responders who are emotionally and mentally healthy.

Lt. Paul Ferber retired from the Brentwood Police Department in January 2014, after 31 years of service. He currently is an Assistant Professor at Jefferson College in the Law Enforcement Academy.